Our Non-Vacation to San Diego

A couple of months ago, I had snagged a great deal for flights to San Diego...we hadn't planned a big vacation this year, so I thought it would be fun to have a nice long weekend and see Legoland and Seaworld. Turns out that the universe had different plans for us. We were set to leave on the Thursday evening after Labor Day. Jay and I had hurried to get off work and to the airport in time for our flight at SFO. That was the day that all of San Diego County had a HUGE power outage. So we ended up hanging out at the terminal for a few hours before they decided to cancel all the flights. The next flight they could schedule us on would have been the next evening...too late to really have a proper vacation. So we cancelled our trip. Luckily Justin is too little to understand what he missed out on. He had a great time running around the airport. We also went for a ride on the AirTrain around the airport to make up for things, which he got a kick out of too.

So since we had already taken Friday off work, we decided to play tourist and went into the city to Fisherman's Wharf. It's been YEARS since I've been there, so it was fun to walk around all the kitchsy shops. We also had the BEST fried chicken and waffles at Little Skillet and then made our way over to Bi-Rite for some ice cream. Sorry, no pictures of those locations...we were too busy EATING! Yum.

Family photo at Terminal 2 in SFO. This is as far as we got to San Diego!

Looking out at Alcatraz

Cookie Aftermath

Every Sunday, Jay's mom attends the complimentary technique classes at Williams Sonoma at Hillsdale mall. We've been the lucky taste testers of some new recipes and this past Saturday, Justin got in on the action! Williams Sonoma had a special Marvel superhero cookie decorating class for kids. Jay's mom was happy to take him while Mom and Dad got to squeeze in a bit of quality shopping time.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the finished cookies, but got some pics of Justin enjoying his hard work. I believe he's eating the head of the Hulk. He kinda looks like the Joker don't you think? Mmm, black frosting...

Day Out with Thomas

This past Sunday, we met up with some friends and took our kids to Day Out with Thomas at Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton (near Santa Cruz). I was not aware of this, but apparently this place is the mecca for train-crazy little boys and girls. You would have thought Thomas the Train was Justin Bieber (I would say NKOTB, but that would show my age), by the way some kids were screaming and jumping up and down when they saw the train dressed up like Thomas.

Luckily for us, Justin was less interested in Thomas and more interested in actually riding the train. The kid was so excited to ride the train that he didn't even want to look at the toys in the price-gouging gift shop (thank goodness!) It was a bit overcast in Felton, but not too chilly, so it was an enjoyable train ride through the Redwood forest.

Justin wanted to ride the train after we were done...lucky for us, we were able to ride the train shuttle that took people back to the parking lot. A fun time was had by all...and we got out of there without having to buy a single Thomas train! (Don't worry, we have more than enough trains and accessories at home!)

 

Showing off his Thomas tattoo...while eating.

Family picture before the train left...yup, Justin's still eating (our train was at lunchtime, so I had to bring plenty of snacks for the little garbage disposal)

Crossing the bridge

This is actually the train that takes you back to the parking lot.

Managed to get a picture with Thomas

Ignore the ticket on the right...that reminds me that I should go online to see how this photo really turned out

Exploring some of the activities

Lunchtime after Roaring Camp. Justin really wanted to hold the baby. The baby reminds me of how chubby Justin was at the same age (5 months)! :)

Off the Grid San Mateo!

For some sadistic reason, I follow Off the Grid on Facebook. Off the Grid is a group that organizes local food trucks at events all over San Francisco. So every time I see a post, I drool and regret not working in the city. So imagine how excited I was to hear that Off the Grid was finally coming to a Peninsula location - downtown San Mateo! Yum yum yum! I recruited all our local friends to meet up at this soft launch. There were about six trucks there, including Chairman Bao and Mama's Empanadas. Luckily the lines weren't too bad (not like some other failed events we've tried to go to). Lines were about 15 -20 people deep...about a 15 minute wait or so. But fun was had by all - even the little monster. I think he was more excited about the Caltrains roaring by behind us, but after a little convincing, he decided he liked the empanadas and proceeded to get it all over his face.

Photos are courtesy of my little bro, Kevin and his fancy camera. I was busy chasing Justin with a napkin and trying to keep him from eating food off the ground.

We'll be back San Mateo!

The dream realized!

Reasonable crowds

Baked bun with pork belly and pickled daikon from Chairman Bao. A bit pricey, but SO good. I do believe pork belly is my new favorite food!

Really, what's not to like about pastry dough stuffed with meat?

I think he ate a whole empanada by himself

So yummy!

Goofing around under Mommy's sweatshirt (?!)

Getting to eat dinner AND play at the same time? FUN!

Summer, summer, summertime!

You know, people always tell me that this toddler age is the best and I have to agree. Life's problems are easy to fix and it's so easy to please them. Their joy is so unbridled and it makes you feel like the best parent ever! :)

Since we don't have a real vacation planned for this year, we been trying to make full use out of these summer weekends, especially now that the weather is so nice! On Saturday, we took Justin to see "Cars 2". It was a special showing through my mommy's group where the theaters don't turn the lights all the way down and they turn the sound down a bit too. I had previously taken Justin to see "Rio" and he had a great time between the hour and half of "big tv" time and the popcorn. So when we told him we were going to see a movie, I thought he was going to jump out of his skin with excitement! We had to wait for Jay to park the car and meantime it's lucky that the move theater had a big lobby so Justin could run around in circles and burn off the excitement.

On Sunday, we took Justin to Gilroy Gardens since they had a dinosaur exhibit that was ending. Between riding the train (twice) and "excavating" dinosaur bones, life was blissful for this two-year-old. Luckily for Mom and Dad, the weather in Gilroy was actually downright pleasant.

On the car ride home, we thought for sure the little monster would conk out, but apparently the excitement of the day was just too much. He chattered to his new friend, the stuffed stegosaurus, all the way home.

A great weekend all around. Of course, it made getting up Monday morning all the more painful. But that's okay...it's time to start planning for the next weekend!

The first ride of the day - he had fun, but apparently it wasn't exciting enough for the little daredevil. We had to move on to the hot air balloons!

This one was a bit better - it moved a little faster so you could at least feel the wind in your hair

"Digging" for dinosaur bones

Finally managed to catch Justin so we could take a picture

Then Justin wanted to take a picture of me

Our little photographer wanted to take a picture of the Microraptor

And the T-rex

Naptime with Daddy

Naptime with Daddy is always the best! Whether you're 6 weeks old or 2-1/2 years old! :)

Summertime Fun

What better way to spend the first real hot weekend of the summer than with a slip and slide with friends! We were invited to a BBQ at the Ngs house and one of their friends brought a Slip and Slide! It's been a long time since I'd seen one of these, so we were anxious to introduce Justin to it. Justin was a bit wary of the water squirting out, but he quickly figured out this was a fun thing! Of course, while all the other kids played with the slide normally...you know, slipping and sliding? Justin really just wanted a drink of water. Oh well, to each his own. I was almost wishing I could go down the slide just to get some respite from the 100 degree weather!

After this BBQ, we headed over to another friend's house to continue the summertime fun with swimming in their pool. Justin had a great time there too...I think we'll really need to put him in swimming lessons by next summer.

Our tuckered out little man fell fast asleep in the car on the way home. Didn't even open an eye as we carried him upstairs into his crib. What a life! A great summertime day spent with friends and having fun. Can't ask for too much more than this!